Farina shoots down Del Piero exit rumours

Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says reports marquee man Alessandro Del Piero is being targeted by a Thailand club have been 'fabricated'.

Published

23 January 2014

Speculation is rife that the 39-year-old Italian is weighing up a move to Thai Premier League club PTT Rayong, possibly as early as the end of this month.

But an unconcerned Farina says the interest from PTT Rayong is old news and insists the Italian maestro remains fully committed to the Sky Blues' cause.

"I think the Thai club (rumour) was most probably an older one that's been dragged back up again, but Alessandro's focus is here," Farina said on Friday morning.

"We're in a situation where we're still very much in the fight and close to everything so his focus is on Sydney FC at the moment.

Farina says the constant speculation over Del Piero's future is part of the territory with such a big name player and insists it is not a distraction for the team.

"I think a lot of it's fabricated as well, as I said the Thailand thing was something he said to me was ages ago, so I don't know who's dragged that up again but it's certainly not a distraction for us," he said.

"He's obviously been a wonderful player with a great reputation and it doesn't surprise if there is interest and that's just the territory that goes with it."

Meanwhile, Farina admits he was disappointed to miss out on Melbourne Victory bound star Besart Berisha's signature after the Albanian international announced a two-year deal with the Victory this week.

"Players make choices and decision and sometimes you win out and sometimes you miss, and unfortunately we missed this one," he said.

The Sky Blues boss added of the news English Premier League giants Manchester City have purchased a majority share in A-League club Melbourne Heart.

"It's great for Melbourne Heart and I think it makes it quite exciting to think that they're going to come in and we'll just see what changes and how well they're going to manage it," he said.

"I think it adds to (the A-League) more than anything. It's showing that the A-League is gathering momentum in terms of interest from overseas clubs and overseas countries.

"That's great for the game that you can say that a Manchester City's come in and taken a major share in an A-League club."